The Otero County Republican Party enjoyed a Lincoln Day Banquet at the Koshare Kiva on Saturday evening, hosting guest speaker Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler. County officials, newly elected Colorado Senator Larry Crowder and Representative Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaf were recognized and spoke. Ed Hunnicutt acknowledged the success of the recent campaign by recognizing the dignitaries, and Judy Reyher also added accolades for Republican women, as well as Bart Mendenhall, Frank Grant (Crowley County Commissioner), Kayla Bay, Dan Davis and Kimmi Lewis. "We have the first Republican district attorney (Jim Bullock) in many years," said Hunnicutt. Next, Reyher introduced Scott Gessler, secretary of state.

"I govern from conservative principles," said Gessler, "and I am not a status quo kind of guy." His predecessor had intended turning business license and fee money over to the state government, but Gessler decided to retain it so that the Secretary of State office could be self-supporting. He told of settling an election dispute in Saguache County. He feels he was unjustly attacked by the Denver Post for disenfranchising people. "Their hearts are pure if they vote," he said mockingly of the attitude of the Post editorial.

He has two strikes against him, he said: one, he is an attorney from Denver and two, worse than that, he is a lawyer from Chicago. His saving grace is a wife who grew up in Las Animas, he said, drawing laughs.

He wants to be clear that there is such a thing as election fraud, and he has spared no time and effort in ferreting it out. He was gracious to those voters who really did not know they should not vote if they were not citizens, citing one very earnest Asian woman who checked the non-citizen box every time, voted every time and was even an election judge. On her last ballot she noted that she was going for citizenship.

He is proud of the conduct of the last election in Colorado. Sixty-five percent of military overseas voted in this election, there were no long lines at Colorado polling places and voter participation was the second highest in Colorado history. His services to businesses include password protection online and Internet access with a one dollar fee only. He has not raised fees and has permanently reduced them. "Being a conservative, you don't take money from people that you don't need. People do a better job of managing their own money than government does."

On the other hand, he thinks it is easy for people who live on credit and don't pay their bills to be optimistic about the economy. "We're in for hard times," said Gessler. "We are definitely going over the fiscal cliff. It's like in playing Rugby - it's not if you're going to be injured, it's when."

He feels U.S. Senator Mark Udall, D-Colo., is a good man, but is voting with the Democratic leadership against second amendment rights. He doesn't like Gov. John Hickenlooper's, D-Colo., stand for civil unions, though the governor seemed to be for moderation after the Aurora shooting. Gessler thinks the governor will go along with the left-leaning Democratic leadership in the legislature, particularly in regard to second amendment rights.

Page 2 of 2 - Gessler summed up his beliefs for his listeners. One, keep the faith. Conservative ideas work better than other ideas. We are not like Europe, South America or France. We're special. Two, continue to make our case. "Socialism is great until you run out of other people's money," he quoted Margaret Thatcher. Heavy regulation saps vitality. People do better when creativity is unlocked. Compare Colorado and Utah with California and Illinois. Three, be active. Letters to the editor count. You should write a letter every two months. Four, when candidates come around needing your time and money, give it to them. Why do people run for office? We do it for future generations. The thing that keeps us going is the pursuit not of happiness, but of meaning. "Ronald Reagan was the last time we had meaning, creating a vibrant economy."

"When the end comes, you will think what did you do with your lives? I gave it my all." Gessler hopes that we can say we made it better when we passed it on, and that we can make this country "a shining beacon of hope and humanity."

Larry Crowder, who spoke shortly after Gessler's speech, congratulated Gessler on how he handled the Democrats on the Health and Human Services committee and their comments implying "how dare he mess with the election." Saguache didn't deter them, Crowder said, but "Scott was enjoying himself." Crowder had been asked to comment on the fate of the much-hoped-for bill that would realize the recycling of waste into energy as green energy. It went down in committee along party lines, three Democrats to two Republicans.

One of the two sponsors of the bill, Navarro-Ratzlaff, was invited to speak next. She was to sponsor the bill through the House. She, too, felt the bill did not get proper consideration and was voted down along party lines, and also in favor of big-city Colorado over rural Colorado. She also feels that second amendment rights to keep and bear arms are being violated. She sees it as taking away rights of self-defense for women and children. Both these representatives have been receiving lots of emails in support of second amendment rights.